The Feast of the Encounter of Our Lord Jesus Christ is approaching. I hope that on Christmas, St. Basil, Malanka, Theophany, you felt God’s grace and the joy of the holy-days despite the worry of war on the lands of Ukraine.
In recent years, many say that the Holidays feel different than before the war. In my opinion, this feeling of being “different” allows for a deeper understanding of the Nativity of Jesus Christ in the light of the reality of His birth. Remember that Jesus was not born in his hometown, but far from home. The Mother of God gave birth not in a hospital but in a stable where cattle live. After giving birth, an angel of God showed Joseph that they should not return home but flee to a foreign land – to Egypt, because their homeland was unsafe.
If we think about the real situation of the birth of Jesus, we can see how the reality of Ukraine today is intertwined with Christ’s time in the world. Many Ukrainians and CYM members (whether of the older generation or today) experienced the same story in their lives: Parents left the country and gave birth to children in a foreign land. Or, they left and are waiting to return because now is not yet the right time.
We know that Jesus is God and He chose to become man at a time when there was great unrest in the world. This shows that the Lord knows human grief, our grief (because He experienced it Himself); knows human courage, our courage (because He Himself lived it); in suffering only God can inspire hope that He is with us and will lead us to victory.
On the Feast of the Encounter, when we bless candles in churches, we proclaim that Jesus, still a small baby, is the Light of God that dispels the devilish darkness. And everyone who with faith in Him defends truth, justice, liberty, freedom, whether in Ukraine or anywhere in the world, bears the Light of God that will never dieGod grant that we, with dignity and cheerful spirit, may carry God’s Light for ever and ever. Amen.
Druh Fr. Andrij Figol
Chaplain for KY Canada
